Laterally movable doors



0d. 9, 1956 P. TORBURN LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS Filed Jan. 25, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 /NVE/VTOE- 605W; 1/ P. Toeaue/v 1956 G. P. TORBURN 2,765,502 I LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS s Sheets-Shee t 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1953 States Patent Ofice 2,765,502 Patented Oct. 9, 1956 LATERALLY MOVABLE DOORS Gustav P. Tor-burn, San Carlos, Calif., assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of 01110 Application January 23, 1953, Serial No. 332,821

1 (Ilaim. (Cl. 20-23) This invention relates to laterally movable doors for railway cars and more particularly to means for preventing such doors from falling off the cars.

It is an object of this invention to provide simple, ef fective and inexpensive means for preventing the loss of laterally movable doors from railway cars when the doors are open.

A further object is to provide means above the door in railway cars which shall limit the lowering movement of laterally movable doors mounted on the cars and thereby prevent loss of the doors while permitting normal opening and closing movement of the doors.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a refrigerator car embodying the instant invention, the laterally movable door for the car being closed.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the door open.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a diiferent embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing how the instant invention accomplishes its intended purpose.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1-4 and 6 of the drawings the numeral 10 designates a portion of a side wall of a refrigerator car. The side wall may be of any desired construction and customarily includes a side plate 11 provided with a depending flange 12 disposed outwardly of the metallic sheathing 13 of the wall. The side wall is formed with a door opening 14 which is adapted to be closed by a laterally movable door 15 of any desired construction.

To impart lateral movement to the door into and out of the door opening and to support the door for sliding upon a track secured to the car below the door opening as shown in the patent to Beauchamp 2,605,515, granted August 5, 1952, to which reference is here made, the door 15 carries two vertical, rotatably mounted pipes 16 and 17 the upper ends of which project above the door and are welded to crank arms 18 and 19. Spindles 20 and 21 are welded to the opposite ends of the arms, 18 and 19, and are provided with horizontal rollers 22 and 23 adapted to bear against the inner face of the depending flange 24 of the door retainer 25 which is secured to flange 12 of side plate 11. Angular members 26 and 27 loosely mounted on the spindles and resting upon the crank arms prevent the door from falling against the car side as it is being moved to open position.

The construction at the lower portion of the pipes and the mechanism for imparting rotation thereto and movement of the door laterally into and out of the door opening shown in the patent to Beauchamp, cited above and incorporated herein, are preferably used upon door 15.

In order to prevent the spindles 20 and 21 from becoming disengaged from the depending flange 24 of the retainer 25 the instant invention provides an angular member 28 which is secured as by means of rivets 29 to the depending flange 12 of the side plate 11. The

member 28 extends across the top of the door opening 14 and beyond the rear edge of the door opening for the full travel of the door in opening direction as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The attaching leg 30 of member 28 is vertical while the leg 31 of this member extends outwardly from the lower edge of leg 30 to lie below and in proximity to the crank arms 18 and 19. Thus, when the door is open and its weight is supported at the ends of the crank arms 18 and 19 at the greatest distance from the car, lowering movement of the door will be arrested by the leg 31 before the spindles 20 and 21 can become disengaged from flange 24 of retainer 25, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The leg 31, however, is spaced a suflicient distance from the crank arms 18 and 19 so as not to interfere with the normal movements of the door.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5 a different type of door retainer 32 is shown. This retainer, which is used when the height of door opening is increased, has an attaching flange 33 whereby the retainer is riveted to the flange 12 of the side plate 11 and a downwardly opening channel-shaped portion 34 within which the upper portion of modified spindles, one of which is shown at 35, and the rollers 22 and 23 are received. Because of the increase in the projection of the pipes 16 and 17 above the door and the resulting increase in the spacing of the crank arms above the leg 31 of the member 28 the leg 31 cannot effectively cooperate with the crank arms to prevent loss of the door. To obtain this desired end, the spindles project downwardly below the crank arms 18 and 19 and terminate in proximity to leg 31. These spindles, therefore, cooperate with leg 31 to prevent disengagement from the retainer and loss of the door.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such changes and modifications be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claim appended hereto.

I claim:

In a railway car having a side wall formed with a door opening and provided with a sliding door embodying means including cranks disposed above the door for moving the door laterally into and out of the door opening and a retaining member secured to the side wall above the door opening and extending beyond the door opening for the travel of the door, which retaining member has a depending flange, said cranks comprising arms, spindles secured to and extending above and below said arms, said depending flange of said retaining member having outwardly overlapping relationship with said upwardly extending portions of said spindles, said spindles being free to move downwardly relative to said flange of said retaining member, a flange secured to and extending outwardly from said wall from the door opening substantially to the end of the retaining member, said latter flange lying below said retaining member and said cranks and in proximity to said downwardly extending portions of said spindles when said door is in open position, said latter flange engaging said downwardly extending portions of said spindles upon lowering movement of said door when in open position before said upwardly extending portions of said spindles become disengaged from said flange of said retaining member to prevent loss of said door from said car when said door is in open position.

Fuchs Oct. 27, 1936 Beauchamp Nov. 10, 1953 

